Real‑Time Payments and Orchestration: What’s Next?

Not long ago, waiting days for a bank transfer to clear or a settlement to arrive was simply part of doing business. In 2025, that feels outdated. Customers expect money to move as quickly as their messages. Instantly, secure and across borders.

This is where real-time payments (RTP) come in. Instead of waiting hours or days, transactions are settled within seconds, giving both merchants and consumers immediate confirmation. For businesses, that means faster liquidity, reduced reliance on credit and smoother customer experiences.

But speed alone doesn’t solve everything. As RTP systems grow around the world, businesses face a new challenge: Fragmentation. 

Every market has its own system, from UPI in India to PIX in Brazil, making it difficult for merchants to expand globally. That’s where payment orchestration enters the picture, acting as the connective layer between different payment rails, which helps businesses leverage the full potential of RTP.

What Are Real-Time Payments and Why Do They Matter?

At its core, a real-time payment (RTP) is exactly what it sounds like. Money that moves instantly between accounts, with settlement confirmed in seconds. Unlike traditional card payments or bank transfers, RTP systems operate 24/7, including weekends and holidays.

For merchants, this isn’t just about speed. RTP brings several advantages that are reshaping digital commerce:

• Instant settlement: No waiting days for funds. This improves cash flow, especially for businesses with thin margins.
• Lower costs: Many RTP networks cut out intermediaries, reducing transaction fees compared to card rails.
• Improved transparency: Both merchants and customers receive immediate confirmation, reducing disputes and failed payments.
• Broader access: RTP systems often connect directly to bank accounts, making them attractive in regions where card penetration is low.

Why does this matter now? Because customers are voting with their wallets. In APAC, India’s UPI processed more than 14 billion transactions per month by late 2024. In Brazil, PIX has become the most widely used payment method for e-commerce in just three years. And in markets like Australia, real-time systems are replacing traditional transfers for everything from shopping to bill payments.

The message is clear: Real-time payments are no longer optional. They are quickly becoming a core part of how consumers expect to pay and how businesses must adapt.

The Global Growth of RTP Systems

Real-time payments are no longer an experiment. 

They are becoming part of everyday life across the world. What’s interesting is how each region approaches them differently.

In India, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has transformed the way people pay, turning instant transfers into the norm for everything from small purchases to business transactions. Its reach has even gone beyond borders, with other countries now accepting UPI payments, a sign of its global ambition.

Brazil’s PIX is another standout success story. Backed by the central bank, it quickly became a favourite because it’s simple, free and works with just a phone number or QR code. Today, it’s woven into daily life and has reshaped how people expect to move money.

In Europe, SEPA Instant offers a single standard for euro payments across dozens of countries. While adoption has been slower, new rules are pushing banks and businesses to catch up, making instant transfers more accessible than ever.

Australia has taken a slightly different approach with its New Payments Platform. Beyond person-to-person transfers, it’s building tools that help businesses use real-time payments for subscriptions, invoices and recurring billing, opening the door to more complex use cases.

The United States has been late to the party but the launch of FedNow has finally given American banks and businesses a national real-time payment rail. While adoption will take time, the potential impact is huge in a market that has long relied on slower systems.

Taken together, these stories show the same theme: 

Real-time payments are spreading quickly but the journey looks different in every country. For merchants and platforms working across borders, that means opportunity but also the challenge of stitching all these systems into a single, seamless experience.

Challenges for Merchants Adopting Real-Time Payments

For merchants, the promise of real-time payments sounds like a dream. Faster cash flow, smoother customer experiences and fewer payment delays. But as with any new technology, the shift comes with challenges to think through.

The first is integration. 

Most businesses already rely on existing payment stacks that connect to gateways, processors and acquirers. Adding real-time rails into that mix can be complex, especially if each market uses its own system. What works in Brazil with PIX may look completely different in Europe with SEPA Instant or in India with UPI.

There’s also the matter of reconciliation. Real-time payments mean money moves instantly but back-end processes like reporting, settlement and accounting don’t always move at the same pace. Without the right tools, finance teams can find themselves struggling to track flows across multiple providers.

Another challenge is fraud and security. Instant transactions leave no time for manual reviews or delays. Merchants need to rely on strong authentication and automated fraud detection that works in real time, without introducing friction for genuine customers.

And then there’s customer expectations. Once shoppers experience the speed of real-time payments, they won’t want to go back. That raises the bar for businesses, who must ensure not just speed but also consistency and payments that are fast, secure and reliable every single time.

Put simply, adopting real-time payments isn’t just about “turning on” a new rail. It’s about reshaping infrastructure, processes and customer journeys to meet a faster standard.

How Payment Orchestration Enhances Real-Time Payments

For merchants operating in diverse markets, real-time payments offer speed, but this alone is insufficient. Payment orchestration is essential to bridge this gap.

Think of orchestration as the control tower. It connects instant rails, gateways and acquirers into one central hub. Instead of managing separate integrations, merchants plug in once and let orchestration handle the complexity.

The benefits are clear. Payments are routed to the best-performing provider in milliseconds. Finance teams get a single dashboard for reconciliation, even if money flows through different rails. And if one provider goes down, orchestration automatically reroutes transactions to keep checkouts running smoothly.

Most importantly, orchestration makes scaling easier. Adding new real-time payment options in a new country doesn’t require rebuilding the stack, it’s just another connection.

What’s Next for RTP and Orchestration?

Although real-time payments are still developing, it is obvious that they are headed towards becoming the new norm. The way orchestration influences the subsequent phase of development is what is now shifting.

More cross-border connections between real-time systems, wallets using RTP for immediate funding, and smarter fraud protection without sacrificing speed are all likely to occur. Additionally, orchestration platforms will reduce the adoption barrier, allowing merchants of all sizes to connect to instant rails more easily and without having to deal with technical or regulatory issues.

The lesson learnt? Although real-time payments will soon be widely used, their scalability depends on orchestration.

Real-Time Payments and Orchestration: The Future Is Here

The future of payments won’t be defined by speed alone. Real-time payments are already transforming how money moves, but it’s orchestration that ensures they deliver real business value. By unifying rails, optimising routing and simplifying global expansion, orchestration takes the promise of instant payments and makes it practical for merchants of any size.

At finera., we help businesses turn payment pain into peace of mind with real-time payments and orchestration built for growth. 

Ready to power your payments with real-time speed and orchestration intelligence? Talk to our team today.